One Chance

Just a little thought, what if Caleb sort of knew what was coming. A meeting that could have happened just prior to the start of the film.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, I'm just borrowing them to keep me entertained.

Tyler and Pogue had just called, they were on their way over so the three of them could all head to the party at the Dells together as a group. For some reason he felt compelled to wait outside and to wander down the drive to meet them.

At the top of the drive he paused to inhale the smells of summer, knowing they would soon fade and give way to the crispness of fall. Fresh cut grass, midnight jasmine and a faint hint of the sea. All very familiar and all very safe, he was home, in a place his family had called home for generations, a place where anything might be possible. Shaking his head at the strange flights of fancy the night seemed to be inspiring in him, Caleb continued to walk along the path beside the driveway.

Nearing the end of the drive he heard a rustle of leaves off to his left and turning, Caleb was shocked to see a girl step out from the shadows into a shaft of moonlight. Her long loose hair blowing around her slightly in the breeze appeared to be woven with honey and moonlight. Caleb had the strangest feeling that he knew her, but was sure he would have remembered someone with hair like that.

When she smiled, it was slow and almost hesitant, not quite reaching her eyes. It somehow prompted all of his protective instincts, to try and put her at ease, despite having just found her lurking in the bushes on his property, uninvited and in the dark.

Caleb opened his mouth meaning to ask her who the hell she was and what she was doing on private property, but when he spoke the words he said surprised even himself; "Hello?"

"Caleb Danvers, finally! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to come outside, alone- ok that sounds vaguely seedy, and that is not how I meant it." The girl shook her head, as if to clear it. "Anyway, the point is I needed to speak to you, just you."

"Ok, but why? And who are you?" Caleb found himself relaxing slightly. It wasn't as if this girl could be a threat to him, not really all things considered.

"Umm, ok I wasn't expecting it to be that easy, I'm Cassie. We go to school together, although I doubt you have noticed me." Cassie paused, glancing up at him through her hair.

"You look familiar, but I can't place your face…" Caleb trailed off, frowning slightly.

At this Cassie bit her lip to hold back the giggles, but one glance at the frustrated look of concentration on his face as he tried to place her face, finally set her off and she giggled, hand over her mouth as if to try and hide the fact that she was actually laughing at him. Once she had calmed down a little, she met his gaze and a heaviness that had been in her eyes since she had first appeared lifted briefly. "Do you know you're not the first person to say that to me?" At his apologetic shrug she continued "You should try looking beyond the obvious some time, but that is not important right now," she said shaking her head.

Cassie paused, glancing around them briefly before drawing him back into the darkness of the hedge. "Firstly, I'd like to get this bit over with, try not to overreact, please bear in mind I've known you since we were 12 and have never said anything, but I know. All of it, about you, and Tyler, Reid and Pogue, about the powers you inherited, the covenant, the consequences you suffer, the whole kit and caboodle." At the shocked look on Caleb's face she stopped, giving him a sympathetic smile with a tilt of her head. "I've known since I turned 12, perhaps even before that on some unconscious level I guess, and I have never uttered a word of it to anyone before tonight. You, all of you and your secret are safe with me."

Caleb opened his mouth to respond, his hands clasped tightly into fists, holding the power just below the surface, ready if he needed it. Then he met her eyes, they were pleading with him, begging him to hear her out.

"Please, just hear me out. I think once I tell you why I am here you might feel a little more secure." Her eyes were compelling him to listen but it was the wringing of her hands and the way she shifted her weight from side to side as she watched him, as if there was more to it than just what he had already heard. That insight was what finally made Caleb relent. So, with a slight inclination of his head, he urged her to continue, but still kept himself ready to fight, if it should come to it he wanted to be ready.

Taking a deep breath Cassie turned towards the Honeysuckle climbing the wall, her fingers cupping a flower as she began to speak, "I promise I am not a threat to you, or the secret. I'm here to warn you, although about what I'm not completely clear"

At this Caleb had to fight from rolling his eyes, who was this girl, some kind of nut case? But she was still talking, moving restlessly from foot to foot, as if she was still not sure she should be here, telling him whatever secret she was here to tell.

"All I really know is that on your birthday next week, when you finally receive your full powers, someone, their features are in shadow so I cant say who, only that they have more power than you can imagine. This person will challenge you; try to force you to will them your gifts."

Cassie met his eyes, her own fierce in their conviction. "You cannot, I repeat can not give in to him. You will have to face him, and fight him, alone. If you don't, everything and everyone you hold dear will follow you to the grave.

First it will be your mother, the grief of losing you too much for her to take. Then Reid, rushing in where even fools fear to tread and all in the defense of his brothers, his family. Then as they ascend Pogue and finally little Tyler will be forced to follow the path into death that you laid down before them. All of it, the future for all of the families of the covenant, gone within a year."

At this she stopped, turning away to her left, leaving him in silence to absorb everything she had just told him. After a moment, he reached out for her, grasping her arm lightly, turning her towards him as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Why should I believe that? Who the hell do you think you are, coming out here and spouting this nonsense about powers and people dying?"

Shaking her head as if in defeat Cassie held up her hand to stop him before he could continue. "You don't have to believe me just now, you just have to understand that if, and I pray to God I am wrong, if this does happen then you have to face him alone."

"Ok, let's just say for arguments sake that I believe you, how the hell do you know that any of this is going to happen?" At this Cassie fought to hide the smile that was spreading across her face. "Surely you're intelligent enough to realize that if you and your friends exist, there would be others out there with other, unusual 'abilities' like yours, and don't tell me you are already so arrogant as to believe that it is only men that are capable of wielding such powers." Shaking her head at his put out expression, she began pacing, three steps to the left, and then returning back to stand beside the honeysuckle she explained:

"I have certain…gifts if you will, and recently I've been plagued with a series of visions about the upcoming weeks, centering around you and your decisions on and around your birthday. In these visions I've seen various versions of what could happen, the only one that gives you and your friend a chance at survival beyond graduation requires you to face this person, and defeat them- alone."

"You face him and fight, if you survive, your life, and those of your friends continues…If not, one by one they fall to the same darkness. Oh, one more thing, they can't know that I told you any of this. If they know they will try and either talk you out of it, stop you or both." Here she paused in her pacing, to look up at him.

He opened his mouth to ask some of the questions running through his mind, but was silenced by her cool finger pressed to his lips. "Please don't ask, not right now, we don't have time, Pogue just turned onto the road leading to your drive. Just know one more thing before I go."

"Go, go where? When will you be back?"

Cassie shrugged, smiling ruefully "I'm going away for a week or so. If all goes as I hope I'll be back in class Monday, after the Fall Fest. If not," shaking her head Cassie turned to stare up at the stars, "If not, I'm not sure I'll ever return. I have a responsibility to others, I can't put myself in the path of this power-hungry madman, not when I have no hope of ever stopping him. No…" The roar of an engine interrupted her here as Caleb turned towards the sound she said, "Trust her Caleb, she will stand with you."

"Who?" Caleb asked, spinning back to look at Cassie, only she wasn't there anymore. All that remained was a slight movement in the air to mark her passing and a light smell of jasmine and honeysuckle. Turning in a full circle and seeing no sign of her, Caleb walked out of the undergrowth, stepping out onto the path to meet Pogue and, unknown to him, to take the first steps down the path that would ultimately force him to be the hero.